Leukemia – Causes, Symptoms and Treatments!

Leukemia – Causes, Symptoms and Treatments  that we should be informed about. In addition,  leukemia is a blood disorder for which the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells, called blast cells, leukemia or leukemia cells .

These cells divide, reproduce, generating a neoplastic proliferation of the affected cells do not die when worn or damaged, so they accumulate and displace normal cells.

This decrease in healthy cells can cause difficulties in transporting oxygen to tissues to cure infections or control bleeding. Being an abnormal proliferation of immature blood cells, leukemia is considered a “blood cancer”.

Main Causes of Leukemia:  Medicine still does not have evidence of the cause of Leukemia , what is known is only what factors encourage the emergence of the disease. Are they:

• Intense contact with chemicals
• Contact with ionizing radiation
• smoking
• Heredity
• Chemotherapy history
• Down’s syndrome

The most intense risk factor among all those listed is hereditary burden. In studies carried out, people who have had close relatives diagnosed with leukemia are up to 3X more likely to have the disease or to develop leukemia cells. Specific and preventive treatment must be carried out throughout life to avoid the manifestation of Leukemia .

Symptoms:  Symptoms vary depending on the type of leukemia before we meet. These are the most common:

• Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Tiredness, loss of appetite and weight loss, fever and night sweats.
• Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Weakness, unexplained sweating and, as in the previous case, fever and loss of appetite and weight.
  Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia: dizziness or lightheadedness, weakness and fatigue, shortness of breath, recurrent infections, easy bruising, fever and frequent or severe bleeding nose and gums.

Other general symptoms include bone pain as a result of the multiplication of leukemic cells in the bone marrow, or the onset of anemia , the hallmarks of which are pallor, fatigue and poor exercise tolerance, the result of red blood cells. A consequence of the disease is also a decrease in the number of white blood cells (leukocytes), a situation that affects the patient’s defenses against infections.

The reduction in the number of platelets involved in leukemia also causes the appearance of skin patches (petechiae) and sporadic bleeding. The most common are through the nose, mouth or rectum and the worst are those that can occur in the brain after a severe drop in platelet counts.

Leukemia Prevention:  So far there is no known way to prevent leukemia . Experts advise to have healthy lifestyle habits and recommendations valid also for the prevention of other types of cancer and also help to better face treatment required by this type of cancer, if it starts to be developed .

Diagnosis of Leukemia:  There are a number of medical tests that are common to all types of leukemia, although for the diagnosis of acute lymphocytic leukemia other specific studies are performed. Common tests include:

• Analytical:  It is the performance of a blood test.
• Extraction:  To diagnose leukemia, the doctor may perform a bone marrow biopsy or extract the cerebrospinal fluid, which surrounds the brain and spinal cord. The extraction is used to study the spread of the disease.

Leukemia Treatments:  The recommended treatment for this type of conditions is chemotherapy. In this several special drugs used to destroy leukemic cells. This treatment has three phases: induction therapy, consolidation and maintenance. In the remission-inducing phase, which lasts four to five weeks, you try to destroy as many malignant cells as possible.

When remission occurs, ie temporary control of the condition, the child will usually appear normal as leukemia symptoms disappear. Sometimes remission is only partial, so some symptoms do not go away completely.

Only a small percentage of relatives fail to go into remission. The consolidation phase lasts two to three weeks, while maintenance must be carried out to complete three years of treatment.